I gather it was some kind of music that people find drippy, and that by extension it’s been applied to sensitive young men. Is that the case? Apparently people consider the term a sure put-away insult. From a thread on Sandman at TCJ’s message board, JL Roberson calls Gaiman’s Sandman “Emorpheus” and adds, “sorry, but it’s true, and Dave Sim’s parody of him sums up all that you need to know about him.” As I recall, the Sim parody character was named Swoon and wouldn’t have been much good at football.
The Hooded Utilitarian
a pundit in every panopticon
Good ol’ wikipedia has a nice definition, but in few words, “emo” is akin to “over-dramatic poseur”. Think modern-age Werther, in tight jeans.
Kids who get their teen angst off the rack at Hot Topic.
I thought an emo was a goth type with suicidal tendencies, but I have a younger brother who is a freshman in college. I get the sense his group of friends use the word emo in the same sense an older generation used the words gay, fag, or queer. “I stay away from him, he’s such an emo.” “Don’t be so emo”, etc.
“Werther, in tight jeans,” that’s funny.